How to Run Faster – 6 Tips to Increase Speed

Learning how to run faster is not as hard as you might think. Genetics aside, there are many effective methods you can practice that will help you increase speed. Whether you’re a long distance runner or a sprinter, the following six tips can be adopted by anyone to help them achieve faster running times.

Focus on Form

When you go out for a run, do you just start running? Do you put any thought into your form? Everyone has their own natural running form. Nearly everyone looks different when they run. However, if you were to ever watch a track event, take a look at the sprinters during their race. You will notice that they all have very similar running forms. They know how to run faster than the average person, and they practice the correct running form that will give them every speed advantage they can muster.

What is the correct running form? The main principles you should be focused on are:

Increase stride – The fewer steps you have to take, the faster you can make it to the finish line.

Run on your toes – Stay off your heels. Your kinetic energy is stored and released when you run on your toes. Use that natural spring to your advantage.

Swing your arms forward – Point your arms in the direction you want to go. Focus on moving forward, not side to side.

Minimize excessive movement – All your energy should be focused on propelling you forward. If you’re doing too much twisting or swinging, you’re wasting valuable energy that could instead be used to get you to the finish line quicker.

Run Intervals

If you find yourself running the same distance over and over again, but your time isn’t improving, try changing things up a bit. You can’t just run the same 5k or 100 meters over and over again and expect to get consistently faster. Your body adapts to the stresses you place on it. Give it a reason to get faster.

Interval training is great way for any runner to get faster. If you’re a 5k runner, run some 200 meter, 400 meter, or 800 meter intervals. Run these distances as fast as you can. You’re not trying to pace yourself here.

Choose a rest time between each sprint that will get your heart rate under control, but not so long that you’re able to carry on a conversation without being out of breath. Run several of these sprints in each workout. Over time, start to cut down on your rest time between sets. Eventually, you’ll be able to run faster for a longer period of time.

If you’re a sprinter, using intervals of 40 meters, 60 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters can help you maintain your top speed for a longer period of time. The faster you can get to your top speed, and the longer you can maintain it, the quicker you’ll get to the finish line.

You can combine those distances as part of a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout so that you can also improve your recovery times between working sets. HIIT can improve both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. You should give it a try.

How to Run Faster? Lose Weight

This one is a little bit of a catch 22. Many people use running as a means to lose weight. Common sense tells us that the more weight we have to carry with us, the more we’ll have to work to get from point A to point B. Try strapping on a backpack with just 20 pounds of weight added. Go for a run, and you’ll soon realize how much more difficult it is to maintain your speed. Now imagine how much easier it would be if you were 20 pounds lighter.

Focus on getting rid of unneeded body fat. Don’t just lose weight for the sake of getting faster. You still need your muscle if you have any intention in getting faster. Body fat is just an anchor that will slow you down. Pay close attention to your diet, and try to get your body fat percentage lower. This tip has the potential to be the most effective in helping you to run faster.

Rest

Easily overlooked by many, getting enough rest is imperative to helping you achieve your goal of running faster. Most people, in their quest to run faster, start pushing themselves harder and harder. While this is a good mentality to have, it can be detrimental if you aren’t giving your body enough time to rest and recuperate. You’re limiting your progress if you’re muscles and nervous system aren’t given the opportunity to recuperate, and you increase the risk for injury.

It can take up to 48 hours or longer to recover from repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise. Going out and sprinting every day can be very detrimental to achieving your goals. While it is possible to run every day, this is something that has to be worked up to, and your diet needs to be perfect. Give yourself a day off after a strenuous workout.

Breathe

Another tip to teach you how to run faster is to focus on your breathing. What does breathing have to do with being faster? Oxygen plays a vital role in energy metabolism. Without oxygen, we turn towards our anaerobic energy producing pathways. While this pathway mostly uses glycogen for energy, if you can raise the threshold at which you begin to switch from using fat for energy to using carbohydrates for energy, you can greatly increase your muscular endurance.

Taking deep breathes and then exhaling quickly will get you more needed oxygen to produce and maintain fatty acid metabolism. Try to get your breathing on a rhythm. Whether you inhale over 3 strides and then exhale over 2, or you inhale over 2 strides and exhale in 1, find your rhythm based on your speed and try to stick to it.

Push Yourself

I shouldn’t even need to mention this one, but many people go out and run with their same tempo and pace, and then wonder why they aren’t getting faster. It’s as if they believe they should be getting faster automatically with the same amount of effort.

If you want to learn how to run faster, you’re going to need to push yourself both mentally and physically. It’s going to hurt. Your muscles are going to burn and your mind is going to tell you to take a break. You need to push through these signals. Give your body a reason to get faster. Break through those artificial ceilings and you will get faster. You might be surprised at the amount of mental pain you can actually push yourself through. However, many people give up and are afraid to challenge themselves. Don’t set limits.

Use these 6 tips to help teach you how to run faster. More than likely, you could benefit from adopting every one of these 6 methods. If you are already doing some of these tips – good job, now go out there and do them even better next time. Never stop trying to improve. Find ways to make improvements on top of improvements. There’s always something you can do to make yourself better. Keep experimenting and you’ll find your groove. Do you have any tips that help you run faster? What is your experience with interval training? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

5 Comments

Tony Schober

Hey Everyone,

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Hey Tony – 1 method that I have had quite a bit of success with in the past is taking your interval approach and applying it on the treadmill. Basically, I set my time on the treadmill (usually 40 minutes – I prefer distance running to sprinting) and then I aim to improve the distance I cover in 40 minutes every time. So for example, if I covered 8km in 40 minutes on my previous session, I need to beat 8km this time.

I achieve this by having sprint sessions built into my run. I start off by sprinting at 18km per hour (I would go faster but that’s the top level for the treadmills at my gym) and then sprint for 1 minute at 18km per hour. I then drop the speed to 17km per hour for 30 seconds, 16km per hour for 30 seconds and keep dropping in this fashion until I reach 12km per hour. I then go back up to 18km per hour and repeat the process but this time just sprint for 50 seconds. Then I repeat again and sprint for 40 seconds and so on. I usually give myself a 1 minute rest at the 15 minute mark and the 30 minute mark but for the rest of the run I follow this process.

To improve I increase the amount of time I spend sprinting each session. So if I did the session above, next time I would start my sprints at 1 minute, 30 seconds. Over time this process really helps you get faster and improves the distance you cover in a fixed time.

I’m sure quite a few people could increase their running speed by using this approach but adjusting the times.

I’ve been running for 2 years…and I can never seem to maintain an increased speed. I can sprint up to 9 mph and run intervals anywhere in between, but I can only run a steady pace at about a 5.2 mph, no matter what I do. I am asthmatic, but am well medicated and controlled. I do 3.6mph-6.0mph intervals and add in sprints…I do this about 15-30 mins most days (not my only form of cardio). Ideas?

Hey Louise, there’s plenty more you can do. If you’ve already tried the 6 tips I mentioned, you can try hills, stairs, or any other high intensity exercise that will increase your vo2 max. That is your ultimate goal – to increase your body’s ability to utilize oxygen. The more efficient at using oxygen you are, the longer and faster you can run.

I’ve only been running properly for about a year but I’ve knocked 4 minutes off of my 5k time in the last 6 months. I still only do a 26 min 5k but down from 30mins I think that’s ok. I do intervals of 2 mins @ 8 mph and 1 min @ 8.5 mph for 5k and repeat. I also quit smoking and dropped 30seconds over 5k in 2 weeks!!! The goal for this year is a 24 minute 5k!!!!